Holden's History of Queensbury

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Re: Holden's History of Queensbury

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A History of the Town of Queensbury, continued ...

A. W. Holden, M.D.

PART II

HISTORY OF QUEENSBURY.

CHAPTER I.
, continued ...

The discovery of Henry Hudson, 8 nearly contemporaneous with that of Champlain, had developed the existence of the noble river now bearing his name, and their high mightinesses, the lords of the states general of Holland, had promptly availed themselves of the fertile foothold thus presented for a commercial colony in the New World.

At a very early date men of wealth and distinction emigrated with their families and retainers, and in the virgin forests of the Chatiemac founded manors and estates after the style of the feudal barons and mediaeval chieftains of the Rhine, and with the title of patroons exercised for a century an almost undisputed sovereignty over their tenants and followers.

Dutch settlements sprung up with almost incredible rapidity.

In less than twenty-five years from the date of Hudson's adventurous voyage, existing records show that the Dutch runners, traders, and agents had penetrated the wilderness in every direction in pursuit of traffic, adventure, and discovery.

This section which has since become classic ground in the eye of the historian; lying in the direct route between the French settlements at the north and the commercial posts on the Hudson, was among the first to be explored, and the tributaries of the Hudson, as far north as Fort Edward, still bear the names given them by their Dutch discoverers.

8 Henry Hudson, spelled Herdson, Hodson, Hodsdon, was, as contemporaneous documents go to show with tolerable conclusiveness, the grandson of Henry Hudson who was the founder, and first assistant of the great Muscovy Company and who died while holding the office of alderman in London in 1555. He was probably also the son of Capt. Thomas Hudson, an experienced navigator of that day, who was in the employment of the powerful Muscovy Company organized for the purpose of maritime commerce and discovery. This famous discoverer was trained up in the employ of that company and was the intimate companion and associate of the distinguished navigators and explorers of that active period. His first two voyages of which we have any authentic record were made in the interest of that wealthy and enterprising corporation. It is conjectured, with a fair show of probability, that about the beginning of the 17th century, a few years prior to the discoveries which have associated his name so conspicuously with American history, he was for a while in the employment of the Merchant Adventurers, another influential company of London merchants, of which his supposed uncle Christopher Hudson was president. The first voyage of Hudson, of which there is authentic record, was made in the interest of the great Muscovy or Russia Company in 1607. Holding to the opinion of an open polar sea, he sailed from Gravesend the first of May with the intention of crossing the north pole by the coast of Greenland. Being deterred by the impenetrable barrier of ice, he skirted the coast of Greenland to its southern extremity, and returned to England on the 15th of September following, having attained a higher degree of latitude than any previous traveler, and adding materially to the world's knowledge of those unexplored regions. On the 22d of April 1608, he embarked on his second recorded voyage for the Muscovy Company in pursuit of that delusion of the early navigators a northeast passage to the Indies. In this adventure he reached the northern coast of Norway, reached Nova Zembla on the sixth on the sixth of July, and after a vain effort to force a passage returned to England, landing at Gravesend, on the 26th day of August, 1608. These brilliant enterprises aroused the jealousy and apprehension of the opulent East India Company of Holland; and with characteristic enterprise they sought to divert the labors of the bold navigator to their interest. He was accordingly induced to visit Amsterdam, and after tediously delayed negotiations entered the employ of that Company. On Saturday the fourth of April, 1609 he set sail from Amsterdam in the Half-Moon, a yacht of about 80 tons burden and manned by 16 or 18 English and Dutch sailors. The object of this voyage was a renewal of the search for a north-east passage by the route pursued the previous year. Failing in this, and his crew becoming mutinous, he, with their consent, turned his prow in search of other adventures towards the setting sun. He reached the banks of Newfoundland on the second of July — skirted the coast of the continent as far north as Delaware Bay which he discovered and entered, and in September discovered, and sailed up the river which bears his name. The following year he sailed again in the Half-Moon, and again cursed with a wicked and mutinous crew, "though he had divided even with tears his last bread with his men, yet on midsummer's day, 1611, his ungrateful crew, thrusting him into a frail boat with his son, and several sick sailors, cut him adrift, to perish amid the arctic winds and waves of the great waste of waters (Hudson's bay) which bearing his name is his tomb and monument." — Compiled from A Historical Inquiry concerning Henry Hudson by John Meredith Read jr.

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Re: Holden's History of Queensbury

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A History of the Town of Queensbury, continued ...

A. W. Holden, M.D.

PART II

HISTORY OF QUEENSBURY.

CHAPTER I.
, continued ...

From that time to the outbreak of the old French war, which terminated in the conquest of Canada, and the final expulsion of the French from a foot-hold in North America, the trail leading from Albany to Montreal through the villages of Fort Edward, Sandy Hill and Glen's Falls to the head of Lake George was deeply worn by the mingled footsteps of the white and red man, in the frequent and often clashing pursuits of war and traffic — the lust of conquest and gain.

To this day, the frequently exhumed relics of frontier warfare, both savage and civilized, bear witness to the hot and sanguinary struggles which have here taken place.

Until after the French war the territory of northern New York, was embraced within the somewhat unsettled boundaries of Albany county.

North of the domain of the Van Rensselaers, the old military post of Saratoga, 9 was the first, and for a long period the only barrier between the nomads of Canada, and the stockade defenses at Fort Orange.

As early as 1709 a military road was constructed on the east side of the Hudson as far as the head waters of Lake Champlain.

Along this route, in addition to the post already named, two other forts were erected, the northernmost of which was named Fort Ann in honor of the then reigning sovereign of England.

The next was named Fort Nicholson, after the commander of the expedition.

This afterward formed a part of the defenses known as Fort Lydius.

Contemporaneous with the progress of French discovery and colonization, was that wonderful movement in the direction of Christianizing the savage races, and the establishment of Indian missions by the Jesuits of the seventeenth century.

This enterprise stands conspicuously out upon the pages of modern history, without parallel for the endurance, perseverance, energy, self abnegation, constancy, devotion and ultimate horrible torture and death of its victims.

Not only hand in hand with the explorer, the fur trader, and military adventurer, but oftentimes far in advance of either, we find these enthusiastic devotees, penetrating the bosky wilds and sullen glooms of the Saguenay and the upper lakes; now halting by the far stretching vistas of the Beautiful river; founding missions by the numerous waters of the great inland seas; and anon pushing adventurously up the unknown tributaries of the great Mississippi; paddling in frail canoes over unexplored wastes of water; wading and wandering through untraversed swamps, and inimitable wildernesses, through storm and tempest, frost and snow, starvation and sickness; in perils more deadly and imminent than those encountered by St. Paul; of ravening beasts, of venomous reptiles, and of merciless savages, these men of God fought their way with the invisible but ever potent weapons of a sublime faith, impelled by the fervid vow of obedience and high convictions of duty, until nearly all of that splendid galaxy, finally achieved the cross and crown of martyrdom through the bloody and terrific ordeal of the tomahawk and scalping knife, the cruel gauntlet, the torture, the stake and the funeral pyre.

9 "Fort Saratoga stood upon a hill on the east side of the Hudson, opposite the present Schuylerville. It was rebuilt in the spring of 1746, in quadrangular form and strongly palisaded, and named Fort Clinton." — Lossing's Life and Times of
Philip Schuyler
, vol. I, p. 56, note. It was abandoned and burnt by the English, about Dec. 1st, 1747; it being untenable as against the enemy.

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Re: Holden's History of Queensbury

Post by thelivyjr »

A History of the Town of Queensbury, continued ...

A. W. Holden, M.D.

PART II

HISTORY OF QUEENSBURY.

CHAPTER I.
, continued ...

Of this number was Father Isaac Jogues, 10 who joined the ill fated Huron mission in 1636.

After arduous labors in preaching and propagating the faith along the northern shores of Lake Huron, as far as the straits of Michilimackinac, and the Sault Sainte Marie, he, in company with four other Frenchmen, and a party of thirty-five Hurons, early in the summer of 1642, while on their way from Quebec to the mission with supplies, were attacked near the western end of Lake St. Peters, and the entire party of whites and about half of the Hurons were made prisoners.

In trying to help one of his companions, the brutal savages pounded him with their clubs and fists until he was senseless, and chewed and lacerated his hands with their teeth until they were so mutilated as to be nearly useless.

The prisoners were conveyed by the way of the Richelieu river and Lake Champlain, to the Mohawk settlements.

Near the southern extremity of Lake Champlain, they encountered another war party of the Iroquois, when the ill fated prisoners were subjected to fresh indignities, and were obliged to run the gauntlet.

Father Jogues was again knocked senseless; his hands frightfully mutilated, and drenched with blood, and fire was applied to his body.

On their way to the Mohawk towns, the party passed through Lake George, and as this is the first record we have of a white man visiting this locality, there can be little question but that Father Jogues with his companions, Groupil and Couture, were the first of the Caucassian race to set eyes upon this lovely lake, or to traverse the portage beyond it.

Staggering under heavy burdens all the way, the poor priest and his suffering companions at length reached the lower Mohawk village, where they were again obliged to run the gauntlet and suffer fresh tortures and mutilations.

Here Father Jogues had one of his thumbs cut off by one of the Algonquin female converts, who was compelled to perform this piece of butchery.

From town to town these scenes were repeated and for months he was in daily expectation of meeting his fate.

Goupil was at finally tomahawked.

Couture was adopted into the tribe.

At length, after more than a year of captivity, through the instrumentality and kindness of the Dutch minister and other sympathizing friends in Albany, who afterward paid a large ransom to appease the Mohawks, he escaped to New York, and after various mishaps, in which he seemed continually the victim of bad fortune, he reached France in the month of January, 1644.

10 "He was born at Orleans in 1607, and (at the time of his capture), was thirty-five years of age. His oval face and the delicate mould of his features indicated a modest, thoughtful, and refined nature. He was constitutionally timid with a sensitive conscience and great religious susceptibilities. He was a finished scholar, and might have gained a literary reputation; but he had chosen another career, and one for which he seemed but ill fitted. Physically, however, he was well matched with his work; for, though his frame was slight, he was so active, that none of the Indians could surpass him in running." — Parkman's Jesuits in North America, p. 214.

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Re: Holden's History of Queensbury

Post by thelivyjr »

A History of the Town of Queensbury, continued ...

A. W. Holden, M.D.

PART II

HISTORY OF QUEENSBURY.

CHAPTER I.
, continued ...

Here for a season he became the subject of great interest and attention; and besides receiving visits and expressions of sympathy from the queen, and many persons of rank and distinction, was the object of the deepest veneration and regard by the members of his order, who for months had made his sufferings and torture the subject of special solicitude and reflection.

At this time he received from the pope a special dispensation authorizing him to celebrate mass with his mutilated hands.

The ensuing spring he returned to Canada, 11 and for a while had a respite from his arduous and hazardous labors.

Two years later he was commissioned by the governor to proceed on a political embassy to the Iroquois country, with gifts, congratulations and conciliating messages to the Mohawks, in relation to the ratification of a treaty recently consummated with the Canadian authorities.

He was at the same time commissioned by the superior of his order to establish a mission among that bloodthirsty people, bearing the prophetic and significant name, of the mission of the martyrs.

About the middle of May, 1646, he left Three Rivers on this expedition, in company with the Sieur Bourdon, engineer in chief on the governor's staff, two Algonquin deputies carrying belts and presents in behalf of their tribe, and four Mohawks to act as guides and an escort.

Proceeding up the Richelieu river and Lake Champlain, past the scenes of former trials and sufferings, he reached the lower extremity of Lake George on the eve of the Romish festival of Corpus Christi, 12 and as a memorial of the same, conferred upon this historic sheet the name of Lac St. Sacrament, a name which, for upwards of a century, was borne without dispute or question.

From the head of Lake George to the Hudson, the party had a weary march, carrying their presents and luggage.

Below the fall, they succeeded in procuring canoes and proceeded thence to Albany.

Although no outrages were committed, the embassy, in great degree, proved a failure, and the party returned, reaching Fort Richelieu on the twenty-seventh of June.

To complete the narrative, Jogues was sent back by his superior, in August, was taken prisoner while on the route from Canada, and, on his arrival at the Mohawk village, after having thin strips of flesh torn from his body, was led to the house of a chief, where, on his entrance, his skull was cloven with a tomahawk, and he fell dead at his tormentor's feet.

"Thus died Isaac Jogues, one of the purest examples of Roman Catholic virtue, which this western continent has seen." 13

11 "Hennepin says * * the Spaniards who were the first discoverers, expected to have found some valuable mines there, and being disappointed, called that part of it on which the upper town of Quebec, is now partly situated, il capo di nacla, a cape of nothing, or barren cape; whence, adds this writer, the name of Canada has been corrupted. Others say, that upon the Spaniards first landing, they were accosted by the natives with the words hah-cah-nah-dah which implies there's nothing here." —Knox's Hist. Journal, 1-303.

12 A holy-day set for the Thursday of the week following Pentecost (Whitsunday) to commemorate the real presence in the Holy Eucharist.

13 Parkman's Jesuits in North America, p. 304.

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Re: Holden's History of Queensbury

Post by thelivyjr »

A History of the Town of Queensbury, continued ...

A. W. Holden, M.D.

PART II

HISTORY OF QUEENSBURY.

CHAPTER I.
, continued ...

After this tragic occurrence, a hundred years passed on in the cycle of human events, and this northern border, with its scanty fringe of civilization, still remained the domain and in the occasional occupancy of savage tribes wandering in the search of peltry or game, or making its sodden trails the pathway of predal and vindictive warfare.

Marin's expedition, which "left Montreal on the 4th of Nov., 1745," * * " on the suggestion of Father Piquet, the French prefect apostolique to Canada, who met the expedition at Crown Point, and the representatives of the Iroquois who were with Marin, * * they passed up Lake Champlain and Wood creek, crossed the country to the Hudson river, destroyed Lydius's lumber establishment on the site of Fort Edward, and approached the thriving settlement of Saratoga, which they utterly destroyed." 14

The peace secured by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, hollow and insincere in the old world, was scarcely observed in the new.

The ashes of the frontier settlements had scarcely ceased smoking when the French resumed, with unwonted energy, their original and favorite plan of establishing a chain of military posts from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the mouth of the Mississippi.

The Indians, far and near, by threats and caresses, presents, promises, and displays of force, were rendered tributary to their vast designs, and the hum of military preparation, the chink of the carpenter's hammer, and the echo of the carbine, rang from the Kennebec to the Monongahela.

Frequent Indian alarms along the border in 1754, aroused the colonists to a sense of danger, and steps were taken for a more effective defense than had as yet been adopted.

A larger body of troops was raised for the protection of the frontier, and Ephraim Williams was promoted to the rank of major and placed in command.

The following year, war, which had been long pending, was formally declared, and both sides rallied themselves for that long and bloody struggle, which was destined in the councils of the Almighty Ruler of the Universe to overthrow the French dominion in North America.

Provincial assemblies were convened, money and troops voted in profusion, and with the opening of the spring, the whole seaboard as well as wilderness border of the English colonies was actively astir with martial preparations.

Massachusetts raised three regiments of infantry, the third of which was placed in the command of Ephraim Williams, again advanced to the rank of colonel.

The plan of the campaign contemplated a simultaneous movement of three distinct armies upon as many different points of the line of French fortifications between the head waters of the Ohio and Quebec.

Col. Williams's regiment was destined to cooperate with the force of Maj. Gen. William Johnson in an attack upon the French posts on Lake Champlain, and was ordered to rendezvous for that purpose with the other New England levies at Albany.

14 Lossing's Life and Times of Philip Schuyler, vol. I, p. 54

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Re: Holden's History of Queensbury

Post by thelivyjr »

A History of the Town of Queensbury, continued ...

A. W. Holden, M.D.

PART II

HISTORY OF QUEENSBURY.

CHAPTER I.
, concluded ...

In April, 1755, a convention of the governors of the several colonies was assembled at Annapolis 15 in Maryland, at which Gen. Braddock assisted for the purpose of arranging the details of military operations for the ensuing campaign.

It was at this conference determined to despatch the first expedition, under the command of Gen. Braddock, in person, against the post since known as Fort DuQuesne at the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers.

The second, designed for the conquest of the posts on and near Lake Ontario, was to be commanded by Gen. Shirley; and the third, destined for the Champlain valley, was entrusted to the command of William Johnson, who had been recently commissioned as major general.

Of these three expeditions, the latter, only, was in part successful.

In July following, 600 men under the command of Gen. Lyman, of New Hampshire, detailed to cooperate with the northern army, was sent forward to clear up the old military road along the Hudson, and to rebuild the fort at Lydius's mills.

While this was in progress, Col. Miller, with another detachment of the army, threw up a block-house and entrenchments at the second carrying place on the Hudson.

The village of Fort Miller still perpetuates the name then given to these defenses.

15 War was not declared in Europe until the following year, by England on the 18th of May, and by France on the 9th of June, ensuing.

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Re: Holden's History of Queensbury

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A History of the Town of Queensbury, continued ...

A. W. Holden, M.D.

PART II

HISTORY OF QUEENSBURY.

CHAPTER II.


Gathering of The English Army at Albany — It Proceeds to the Head of Lake George — First Religious Service and Sermon at that Place — Council of War — King Hendrick's Eloquence — The Bloody Morning Scout — Battle of Lake George — Defeat of the French Army and Capture of its Leader — Action at Bloody pond.

THE several quotas for the expedition against Fort St. Frederic having at length reached Albany, and the other preparations for the campaign having been matured, in the early part of August, the main body of the army set forward in its march northward; and General Johnson soon followed with the artillery, stores and baggage.

Advancing slowly along the old military road up the river, he reached the camp at the great carrying place on the fourteenth of August, at which time he reported to Governor Delancey that his entire force would "not exceed 2850 men fit for marching to Crown Point."

Col. Cockroft's regiment, was left behind as a convoy to the wagons and batteaux freighted with the usual impedimenta of an army.

An addition to the defenses of this important point was at this time commenced, to which the name of Fort Lyman 1 was first given in honor of Major General Phineas Lyman 2 of the Connecticut troops, to whom was assigned the duty of erection.

It was shortly after changed to Fort Edward in compliment to Edward, Duke of York, grandson of George the second, and brother of George the third.

1 It stood close upon the bank of the Hudson, on the north side of the mouth of Fort Edward creek. It was of an irregular quadrangular form, with bastions at three of the angles, the fourth angle being effectually protected by the river. It was constructed of timber and earth. The ramparts were sixteen feet high, and twenty-two feet thick, and were mounted with six cannon. A deep fosse was excavated in front of two of its sides, the other two sides fronting upon, and being protected by Fort Edward creek and the Hudson. In addition to the several buildings which stood inside of the walls of the fort, large store houses and barracks were reared on an island opposite to it in the river. — Fitch's Hist. Survey of Washington County. In Trans. N.Y.S. Agricultural Soc'y, 1848.

2 Phinehas Lyman, was born at Durham, Conn., about 1716; was graduated in 1738 at Yale College, in which he was afterwards a tutor three years; and settled as a lawyer in Suffield. He sustained various public offices. In 1755 he was appointed major general and commander in chief of the Connecticut forces and built Fort Lyman, now called Fort Edward, N.Y. When Sir W. Johnson was wounded in the battle of Lake George, the command devolved on him. In 1758, he served under Abercrombie, and was with Lord Howe, when he was killed. He was also at the capture of Crown Point by Amherst and at the surrender of Montreal. In 1762 he commanded the provincial troops in the expedition against Havana. In 1763 he went to England as the agent of his brother officers to receive their prize money, also as agent of a company, called the military adventurers, to solicit a grant of land on the Mississippi, and wasted 11 years of his life. Being deluded for years by idle promises, his mind sunk down into imbecility. At last his wife, who was a sister of Dr. Dwight's father, sent his second son to solicit his return in 1774. About this time a tract was granted to the petitioners. After his return he embarked with his eldest son for the Mississippi, and both died soon after their arrival at West Florida in 1775. — See Dwight's Travels, 1-305. 361-3. Wilson's Orderly Book, in Munsell's Hist. Series, p. 29, note.

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Re: Holden's History of Queensbury

Post by thelivyjr »

A History of the Town of Queensbury, continued ...

A. W. Holden, M.D.

PART II

HISTORY OF QUEENSBURY.

CHAPTER II.
, continued ...

On the fifteenth a council of war was held, at which resolutions were passed, desiring additional aid and reinforcements from the governors of New York and Connecticut; and requesting the governor of Massachusetts to make a diversion in their favor, by sending a detachment of five hundred troops down the Chaudiere river against the French establishments in that vicinity.

On the twenty-fourth of the same month. Gen. Johnson writes to Lieut. Gov. Delancey from the camp at the great carrying place, that "the road is now making from this place to Lake St. Sacrament 3 where I propose to build magazines and raise a defensible fortification, either as a safe retreat in case we should find the enemy too strong for our force, and be obliged to quit our ground, or upon well grounded intelligence find it the most prudent measure to halt there till we receive reinforcements." 4

He adds,"I propose to march to-morrow or next day with the first division of about fifteen hundred men, and some Indians, and a few field pieces."

Awaiting developments, General Johnson established a camp at the head of the lake, and under the immediate supervision of Col. Williams, a large clearing was made on the headland afterward covered by the intrenchments of Fort William Henry.

In a communication to the board of trade dated the 3d Sept.,1775. General Johnson states as follows: "I am building a fort at this lake where no house ever before was built, nor a rod of land cleared, which the French call Lake St. Sacrament, but I have given it the name of Lake George, not only in honor to His Majesty but to ascertain his undoubted dominion here."

"When the battoes (certain small boats so called) are brought from the last fort caused to be built at the great carrying place ab' 17 miles from hence, I propose to go down this lake with a part of the army, and take part of the end of it about fifty miles from hence at a pass called Tionderogue 5 ab' 15 miles from Crown Point, there wait the coming up of the rest of the army, and then attack Crown Point."

3 Lac du Saint Sacrament. Father Jogues on his return to Canada, set out with some Indians for the scene of his former sufferings, in company with Sieur Bourdon, royal engineer, and arrived on the festival of Corpus Christi, at Lake Andiatorocte, to which, in honor of the day, he gave the name of the Lake of the Blessed Sacrament. — 0' Callaghan's Hist, of New Netherland, vol. II, p. 299.

4 Documentary Hist, of N.Y., vol. II, p. 682. — Johnson Manuscripts.

5 Invariably so spelled by Gen. Johnson. Ticonderoga has a widely varied orthography. It is supposed to be a contraction of the Indian term Tek-ya-dough-ni-gar-i-gee, signifying two points opposite to each other; ye Indian name of Fort St. Frederic. — Vide map of the middle British Colonies, by T. Pownall, M.P., Lond., 1776. The same term was applied to the narrows between Ticonderoga and Crown Point forming the entrance to Lake Champlain. T. Pownall's Topographical description of North America, Lond., 1776. Pownall himself spells the word Cheonderoga, and defines it as signifying three rivers. — Vide map ut supra.

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Re: Holden's History of Queensbury

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A History of the Town of Queensbury, continued ...

A. W. Holden, M.D.

PART II

HISTORY OF QUEENSBURY.

CHAPTER II.
, continued ...

On Sunday, the seventh, the camp was hushed to listen to the first Christian services and sermon 6 held on this spot of which there is record.

The venerable and Reverend Stephen Williams of Longmeadow, Mass., a near relative of Col. Williams, and chaplain of his regiment, preached in camp from the prophetic words of Isaiah, "which remain among the graves and lodge in the mountains."

The forces gathered here now numbered nearly five thousand, and the want of transportation, coupled with the intelligence received from his trusty scouts and runners, that the French were in possession of the passes at the north dissipated the plan for any further advance.

In the mean time the enemy, more active and aggressive, had despatched three thousand men to the frontier post of St. Frederic.

Nearly one third of these were veterans from the fields of France, the remainder consisting of Canadians and Indians.

They were joined on the seventeenth by the Baron de Dieskau, a brave and experienced officer who had been assigned to the command of the expedition.

For the following fifteen days he was encamped under the entrenchments of that fort maturing his plans — sending out scouts for intelligence and harmonizing disagreements among the intractable savages who constituted so large a part of his following.

On the second of September he reached the lower fall on the outlet of Lake George, whence he sent out a small scouting party, and bivouacked for a couple of days at what is now known as the fort ground of Ticonderoga.

On the 4th M. de St Pierre was sent forward with the Canadians and Indians, who were to sleep that night on the side of the great marsh near Whitehall.

General Dieskau made the great mistake of leaving the bulk of his force, viz. 1800 men, at Carillon, and with a flying corps of six hundred Canadians, as many Indians and three hundred regulars, including two companies of grenadiers, a detail of twelve marines and a squad of artillerymen and bombardiers, he reached the head of South bay, on Lake Champlain, on the fifth, and set forward on his march toward Fort Lyman.

Continuing the march on the sixth, about noon the detachment encamped beyond the mountains. 7

Here small scouting parties were sent off in the direction of Fort Lyman and the head of Lake George.

One of these returning the same night discovered and reported thick smoke seen in the direction of Johnson's camp.

On the seventh, the army, preceded by scouts, again set forward.

About two o'clock of that day the scouts, who had been sent to reconnoiter in the vicinity of Fort Lyman, rejoined the main body, with the information that there were about fifty tents outside the fort, upon which Dieskau, true to his motto, 8 decided to attack it.

Pushing forward, he reached that night the banks of the Hudson river about one league from the fort, where he encamped for the night. 9

6 "On Sunday, all come forth and collect in the groves for the worship of God; three hundred red men, also, regularly enlisted under the English flag, and paid from the English treasury, seat themselves on the hillock, and, while the light of a summer's afternoon is shedding its sweetest influence on the tops of the forest clad mountains and on the still waters of the deep transparent lake, they listen gravely to the interpretation of a long sermon." — Bancroft's Hist. U.S., vol. VI, p. 28

7 I have followed implicitly the official statement of M. de Vaudreuil in regard to Dieskau's march. This, it will be seen, varies materially from the commonly received account; and differs somewhat from Bancroft's relation. — Vide Colonial Documents relating to the History of N.Y., vol. X, p. 313-327.

8 Boldness wins.

9 Probably on the flat at the foot of Sandy Hill

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Re: Holden's History of Queensbury

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A History of the Town of Queensbury, continued ...

A. W. Holden, M.D.

PART II

HISTORY OF QUEENSBURY.

CHAPTER II.
, continued ...

At daybreak on the eighth the Indians fired at and killed a courier galloping rapidly towards the fort. 10

On his person found a dispatch to the officer in command of the garrison at that place advising' him of Dieskau's approach, with a large force of Frenchmen, Canadians, and Indians; and cautioning him as to the proper disposition of the provisions and ammunition.

Twelve wagons shortly after passed in the same direction, from which Dieskau only obtained two prisoners, from whom he obtained tolerably accurate information as to the condition and disposition of the English forces at the head of the lake.

The garrison at Fort Lyman consisted of only about three hundred troops from the New Hampshire levies under Col. Blanchard.

It was the baron's original intention, after learning the weakness of the latter place, to move forward with celerity, assault and carry it by storm.

"The Iroquois refused point blank to march to attack the fort."

Dieskau in his account of the affair says: "I was to arrive at nightfall at that fort and rush to the attack; but the Iroquois, who took the lead on the march, under the pretence of zeal, caused a wrong direction to be taken; and when I was informed of the circumstance, it was no longer time to apply a remedy, so that at nigthtfall I was yet a league from that fort on the road leading from it to Lake St. Sacrament." 11

M. de St Pierre who, by the baron's orders, had consulted the chiefs of the different natives, and communicated to them his intention of attacking the camp at the head of the lake, under the alluring representation "that the more English there were, the more of them he would kill," reported that the Indians would submit to his pleasure; and should he succeed at Lake St. Sacrament, they would accompany him to the fort. 12

10 "I got one Adams, a waggoner, who voluntarily and bravely consented to ride express with my orders to Colonel Blanchard of the New Hampshire regiment, commanding officer there. I acquainted him with my intelligence, and directed him to withdraw all the troops there within the works thrown up (at Fort Lyman). About half an hour, or near an hour after this I got two Indians and two soldiers to go on foot with another letter to the same purpose. " About twelve o'clock that night the Indians and soldiers returned with a waggoner who had stole from the camp, with about eight others their waggoners and forces without orders. This waggoner says they heard and saw the enemy about four miles this side the carrying place. They heard a gun fire, and a man call upon heaven for mercy, which he judged to be Adams." — Gen. Johnson to the governors of the several colonies, Sept. 9th, 1755. 0'Callaghan's Docy. Hist. N.Y., vol. II, p. 401-2.

11 Documents relating to the Colonial History of N.Y., vol. X, p. 317.

12 Vaudreuil's relation. Ibid, p. 331.

TO BE CONTINUED ...
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